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BSB: Bridewell to front new Halsall Suzuki effort

Tommy Bridewell will be reunited with former team boss Martin Halsall for the 2018 British Superbike Championship as the former title contender looks to bounce back from a difficult season.

Bridewell endured a challenging 2017 campaign with Brent Gladwin’s WD40 outfit, but is determined to return to race-winning form after signing a deal to front Martin Halsall’s new BSB effort.

The West Countryman finished on the podium twice for Martin Halsall and the Bennetts Suzuki squad in 2016 with the older, dated GSX-R1000. The renewed effort will see Bridewell campaign the latest edition of the GSX-R as Halsall returns to the grid.

“It’s probably best not to comment on last year!” Bridewell told MCN. “For whatever reason, it didn’t work and now I have to learn from that and take the positives forward. With the exception of that bike, I have challenged for podiums if not wins on every bike I have ridden in BSB from 2013 to 2016 and as far as I’m concerned you don’t go from being a rider who can do that one year to struggling to finish in the top ten the next!

“I really enjoyed riding for Martin in 2016, he’s good at getting the best out of me and as soon as we started talking for this year, everything he came out with sounded great. He’s built this team exactly how I’d build it if it was my own and after what we did with the old GSX-R in 2016 I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do on the new one.

“The old bike had its limitations, we got round some of them but there were other areas you couldn’t do anything about as the bike was at the end of its development. The new one is already an improvement in those areas and with it only being a year old there is a lot more that can be done too.

“I find it really important to have a crew around me who I can work with and trust, and Martin is bringing back the Italians I worked with in previous years to a lot of success.

“I’m not going to be stupid and say I’m going to go out and win both races at Donington, but I’m confident we can get back to the kind of results I’ve shown I am capable of in the past.”

By
Oli Rushby

Sports reporter covering British Superbikes, World Superbikes and road racing